Examples of the glass-contacting member which have hitherto been used in contact with the above-described various glasses include a nickel-base alloy used as the material of a mold for hot-molding of glass and comprising 0.3 to 15% of chromium, 0.1 to 3% of titanium, 0.2 to 2.5% of beryllium and 1% or less of manganese (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 30528/1976), an alloy used as the material of a mold for molding of glass and comprising 40 to 90% of nickel, 5 to 30% of cobalt, 1.5 to 6.5% of aluminum, optionally 3% or less of silicon and optionally 25% or less of copper with the balance consisting of iron (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58920/1978), a nickel-base alloy having an excellent resistance to corrosion by molten glass and comprising 0.2 to 25% of aluminum (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 139015/1975), a nickel-titanium alloy suitable as a mold for molding of glass and comprising 50% of titanium and 50% of nickel (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 79725/1973) and further Inconel 600 which is a nickel-base alloy represented by 15.5Cr-8Fe-Ni and Inconel 690 which is a nickel-base alloy represented by 29Cr-9Fe-Ni.
The above-described glass-contacting members used in producing the above-described glasses, such as rolls, molds and spinners, should be excellent in not only high-temperature strength and high-temperature oxidation resistance but also resistance to corrosion by glass during contact with molten glass, softened glass or solid phase glass. Conventional glass-contacting members, however, had problems such as poor high-temperature strength, poor resistance to oxidation at a high temperature, poor resistance to corrosion by glass, and low melting point. For example, Inconel 600 and Inconel 690, i.e., nickel-base alloys having the above-described compositions, had problems that they are not always excellent in the resistance to corrosion by glasses such as molten glass, softened glass and solid phase glass and had a melting point as low as about 1350.degree. C.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems accompanying the conventional members for use in contact with glass, particularly those comprising a nickel-base alloy. An object of the present invention is to provide a nickel-base alloy which is excellent in not only high-temperature strength and high-temperature oxidation resistance but also resistance to corrosion by glass such as molten glass or solidified glass, has a melting point above 1350.degree. C., i.e., the melting point of the above-described conventional nickel-base Inconel, and is suitable as the material of a glass-contacting member used in an unenergized state.